and arms on pillows, ornamented
with buttons of oriental pearls. It should be remarked that this lady was
not the wife of a large merchant, such as those of Venice and Genoa, but
of a simple retail dealer, who was not above selling articles for four
sous; such being the case, we need not be surprised that Christine should
have considered the anecdote "worthy of being immortalised in a book."

It must not, however, be assumed that the sole aim of the bourgeoisie was
that of making a haughty and pompous display. This is refuted by the
testimony of the "Menagier de Paris," a curious anonymous work, the author
of which must have been an educated and enlightened bourgeois.

The "Menagier," which was first published by the Baron Jerome Pichon, is a
collection of counsels addressed by a husband to his young wife, as to her
conduct in society, in the world, and in the management of her household.
The first part is devoted to developing the mind of the young housewife;
and the second relates to the arrangements necessary for the welfare of
her house. It must be remembered that the comparatively trifling duties
relating to the comforts of private life, which devolved on the wife, were
not so numerous in those days as they are now; but on the other hand they
required an amount of practical knowledge on the part of the housewife
which she can nowadays dispense with. Under this head the "Menagier" is
full of information.

After having spoken of the prayers which a Christian woman should say
morning and evening, the author discusses the great question of dress,
which has ever been of supreme importance in the eyes of the female sex:
"Know, dear sister," (the friendly name he gives his young wife), "that in
the choice of your apparel you must always consider the rank of your
parents and mine, as also the state of my fortune. Be respectably dressed,
without devoting too much study to it, without too much plunging into new
fashions. Before leaving your room, see that the collar of your gown be
well adjusted and is not put on crooked."

[Illustration: Fig. 60.--Sculptured Comb, in Ivory, of the Sixteenth
Century (Sauvageot Collection)]

Then he dilates on the characters of women, which are too often wilful and
unmanageable; on this point, for he is not less profuse in examples than
the Chevalier de Latour-Landry, he relates an amusing anecdote, worthy of
being repeated and remembered.

"I have heard the bailiff of Tournay relate, th